In modern internal combustion engines, the air flow in the intake system and/or the exhaust gas flow in the exhaust gas system are controlled or regulated by electronically controlled valve devices. The appropriate valve devices are, for example, a throttle valve, and exhaust gas recirculation valve, a bypass valve of a supercharger, etc. Such valve devices normally include a channel through which the air stream and the exhaust gas stream flow, a rotatable or displaceable valve element which controls the flow quantity as a function of its setting, an electrical actuating device, for instance a DC motor, a mechanical connection between the valve element and the actuating device, a sensor that records the current setting of the valve element, and a control and regulation device that ascertains the actuating signal that is applied to the actuating device in order to obtain a desired position of the valve element.
The known control and regulation devices typically include a digitized, closed control loop by which the actuating signal is determined that is applied to the actuating device. The basis for this is the actual value of the setting of the valve element recorded by the sensor and a setpoint value.
An object of the present invention is to provide a control method so that the internal combustion engine operates at as high an efficiency as possible, so that the fuel usage is optimized and the emission of pollutants is reduced.